A groundbreaking authoritative exploration-rich with powerful personal stories and convincing
research-of the many ways the living can and do accompany the dying on their journey into the
afterlife. In 2000 end-of-life therapist William Peters was volunteering at the Zen Hospice
Project in San Francisco when he had an extraordinary experience as he was reading aloud to a
patient: he suddenly felt himself floating in midair completely out of his body. The patient
who was also aloft looked at him and smiled. The next moment Peters felt himself return to
his body...but the patient never regained consciousness and died. Perplexed and stunned by what
had happened Peters began searching for other people who'd shared similar experiences. He
would spend the next twenty years gathering and meticulously categorizing their stories to
identify key patterns and features of what is now known as the shared crossing experience. The
similarities which cut across continents and cultures and include awe-inspiring visual and
sensory effects and powerful emotional after-effects were impossible to ignore. Long
whispered about in the hospice and medical communities these extraordinary moments of final
passage are openly discussed and explained in At Heaven's Door. The book is filled with
powerful tales of spouses on departing this earth after decades together and bereaved parents
who share their children's entry into the afterlife. Applying rigorous research Peters digs
into the effect these shared crossing experiences impart-liberation at the sight of a loved one
finding joy a sense of reconciliation if the relationship was fraught-and explores questions
like: What can explain these shared death experiences? How can we increase our likelihood of
having one? What do these experiences tell us about what lies beyond? And most importantly
how can they help take away the sting of death and better prepare us for our own final moments?
How can we have both a better life and a better death?
